


All Roads Lead To Rome

by colazitron



Series: 2016 December Holiday Fic Countdown [18]
Category: SKAM (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 15:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8897467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colazitron/pseuds/colazitron
Summary: Isak doesn't like Elvebakken much. Jonas isn't there, for one. There is, however, a pretty third year he can't stop staring at.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [desert_coffin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/desert_coffin/gifts).



> Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with the characters depicted herein or their creators. I made this all up in my head and am sharing it only for entertainment purposes.
> 
> For anon, who prompted Isak at Elvebakken when Even has his public episode.

Isak hasn't made many friends at Elvebakken. Actually, Isak hasn't made _any_ friends at Elvebakken. He gets along well enough with the people in his classes, but there's not really anyone who's his _friend_. The only one he hangs out with outside of school is Jonas, and Jonas is becoming more and more entrenched in Eva and the people he made friends with at Nissen. Nissen would've been Isak's choice as well, but his parents had insisted on Elvebakken. Something about it being better rated, or something. Isak didn't really care, he just wanted to go where Jonas went.

There is _one_ thing that Elvebakken has that Isak is glad for. The bright spot at the end of a very plain, boring, lonely tunnel, if you will.

There's a … a boy. A third-year.

_Even Bech Næsheim._

The one good thing about not having any friends is that no one is around to notice he's staring at a boy far too often. No one's there to call him out on how he tends to fiddle with his cap or his hair or his clothes when he sees him halfway across the cafeteria. No one's ever teased him about how he probably blushed bright red that time Even ran after Isak, grabbed him by the arm to stop him, and plopped the snapback he'd forgotten in the cafeteria on his head right there in the hallway.

“Wouldn't want to forget that, since it completes your look,” he'd said, and Isak had. Just stood there. Stared at the floor and felt his face go hot in the most telling display of teenage awkwardness.

“Thanks,” he'd managed to mumble and then Even had grinned at him, tapped the bill of his cap and turned to walk away.

So, yeah, there's a boy.

Sometimes Isak could swear that when he's staring at him across the courtyard, Even stares back. It's stupid, of course, and Isak's trying to convince himself he's imagining it, because Isak is no one. Only a first-year, and not even one who has a friend group to be associated with, or anything else. Just a random kid who attends the same school. And Even has a gorgeous, sweet, clever girlfriend.

But sometimes… sometimes their eyes meet and Isak forgets to be spooked and look away, and then they hold eye contact for… just… way too long. Sometimes they ride the same tram home and Even will strike up a light conversation. Never more than small talk; school, music, the fucking weather. But Isak has three new favourite musicians because of those conversations, and he doesn't even know if he likes the music or just who told him about them.

He's debating telling Jonas about him. Jonas is his best friend, and maybe he sometimes says things that make Isak flinch inside, just a little bit, because he's pretty sure that's _him_ Jonas inadvertently laughed at, but he's not… intolerant. Jonas is great. Jonas would understand.

And then, just as he's worked up the courage, everything goes to shit.

Mum has another breakdown, and refuses to see help. It's hard to be at home when Isak doesn't know who he'll be sharing the house with and so he spends a lot of time at Jonas', at least when Jonas is home. But Jonas is usually with Eva and even though Isak selfishly wants to demand he spend time with Isak instead, he suddenly finds his throat clogged up, unable to tell Jonas just _how much_ he really needs to get out of his house. Telling Jonas everything used to be second nature, but not seeing him eight hours a day like he used to has made a distance settle between them that Isak has never felt more acutely than now.

Dad spends more and more time at work, and Isak finds himself suddenly with an extra load of chores that need doing. There's groceries to be bought when Mum forgets – which is often – and things to clean up, especially when Mum has an episode – which is almost as often. And there's still school work to keep up with.

Weeks turn into months, and Isak feels rubbed raw and vulnerable; like an exposed nerve. Like he's teetering on the edge of _something_ , and then Even explodes all over the revue group's facebook page.

Isak hasn't actually looked at it himself, hasn't watched any of the videos that someone took of him and people have been passing around school like contraband. He hears enough to get the gist of it, that Even had some sort of episode himself. For two weeks no one really knows what's going on, and then his parents pull him out of school even though there's only a few weeks to go till exams. People start either calling him all sorts of names, “glad” that he's been removed as “who knows what he'd do”, or offer Sonja their condolences as though he'd fucking _died_.

Once, while Mum is preaching Bible verses at him through his locked door and the tears brim in his eyes, Isak googles the symptoms he's heard people whisper about.

 _Bipolar disorder_ is what it gets him, and when Isak's tears finally fall, he's not sure who he's crying for.

Two weeks later he punches a kid at school for calling Even a psychopath.

His parents get called into the office because the other guy's dad is apparently Important and has threatened to Take Steps. The school, Dad, and the other guy's dad agree it's best if Isak finishes out his year quietly and then changes to another school. Isak feels rage simmer in his veins, but Dad looks so tired, and he's hardly ever home these days, so Isak swallows it all down and nods.

He's somewhat notorious for his last few weeks at school, and whispers follow him around the hallways.

In the summer his dad leaves, and Isak cries on Jonas' shoulder for a few hours and tells him everything. He spends two weeks with Jonas and Eva at Eva's mother's cabin, and they help him fill out the forms to attend Nissen with them in the fall. They also help him figure out how to get help for Mum, and by the time the new school year rolls around, Isak is exhausted, but determined.

On the first day of school, standing in the courtyard and looking around for Jonas, who he was meant to meet before class, someone taps him on the shoulder. When Isak turns around, he's met with the sparkling eyes and artfully swept hair of one Even Bech Næsheim.

“Hi, Isak,” he says. “I heard you punched someone for me.”

“Um,” Isak says, feeling like a deer in headlights. Even remembers his _name_?

“I know I shouldn't pay attention to rumours, but the ones about me weren't too grossly exaggerated, so I figured maybe you poked him at least,” Even says.

Isak can't help it; the comment punches a laugh out of him.

“Does that mean you streaked through the teacher's lounge?” he asks, teasing a little.

Even laughs, and Isak's tummy erupts with butterflies.

“Is that something people were saying? God, I wish,” he says.

Isak shrugs, and then silence falls between them. It stretches into awkwardness, but Even's not leaving, so Isak blurts, “What are you doing here?”

“I go here now,” Even grins.

“Really? Me too,” Isak says, as though it's not painfully obvious.

The sparkle in Even's eyes honest-to-god _dances_ when he smiles.

“Must be fate,” he says.

“Must be,” Isak agrees.

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> Come leave me prompts for my fic advent on [my tumblr](http://fille-lioncelle.tumblr.com/ask), if you want!


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